Manufacturing And Application Precision Changes In Surgical Guides For Implants

Aim or purpose: To assess the reproduction accuracy of a surgical guide during both the manufacturing phase (from designed files to manufactured surgical guides) and application phase (from manufactured surgical guides to post-plasma sterilization) across four three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies. Materials and methods: A total of twenty-four surgical guides were designed and classified into four distinct groups (six surgical guides per group) based on the printing technology employed: stereolithography apparatus (SLA), digital light processing (DLP), laser cladding deposition (LCD), and selective laser melting (SLM). The surgical guide files were collected under three conditions: design, post-printing, and post-plasma sterilization. The integrated precision, regional precision, and implant precision of the surgical guides were assessed by measuring (1) T-vertex marker distance and angle, (2) deformation of the surgical guide after superimposition, and (3) 3D displacement of the implant. Results: SLA printers demonstrated the lowest reproduction accuracy and implant precision during the production phase (p<0.001) and exhibited the least implant precision in the application phase. Conversely, SLM printers achieved the highest levels of reproduction accuracy and implant precision across both phases (p<0.001). LCD printers displayed slightly lower reproduction accuracy and implant precisions compared to SLM throughout both the production and application phases. Conclusions: Selective Laser Melting (SLM) printers offer exceptional precision in the context of implant surgery. Their application is highly recommended for the fabrication of surgical guides, owing to their superior reproduction accuracy and precise alignment of implants during both the manufacturing and application stages.